Celestial Bloodline Chapter 954: The first three Celestials II

Following the demise of the hourglass symbol's possessor, the remaining one among the original three Celestials, who had secluded himself for countless years, finally emerged. He ranked as the most formidable of them all and preferred to avoid contact with others, particularly the freshly promoted Celestials.

He grasped three sets of rings that seemed strikingly familiar—the very same ones Kyle had uncovered within the enormous coffin, the place where Azazeal located the Crimson Ice Crown.

These rings were forged by his own hands after days of tireless labor—despite his complete lack of knowledge in smithing—designed for himself and his companions, crafted once he learned that one of them had discovered a life partner.

Yet upon his return, what met him were the corpses of his companions, devoid of life. The rings slipped from his fingers.

Kyle could nearly sense something shattering deep inside that quiet figure, despite the ancient tale unfolding across the heavens providing no audio—merely hazy, transient images—as the man collected the remnants of his allies.

Oddly enough, the survivor of the initial trio of Celestials maintained an astonishing level of composure.

He departed and interred the remains of his friends in silence, his expression free from rage or sorrow.

His mind held onto rationality still.

The culprits who slew his companions had vanished long before, amassing their might after devouring the otherworldly energies they had seized. Yet he refrained from chasing them.

Rather, he established the Layer of Ancients and lingered there—enduring in quiet anticipation for the killers of his friends to approach him.

He was certain they would arrive.

In pursuit of his power too.

Days evolved into months.

Months extended over centuries.

Throughout that entire duration, he remained utterly motionless. As eons endlessly flowed by, a malevolent presence started to devour the glow encircling his luminous form. At last, they arrived—not in dozens or scores, but by the thousands, all intent on ending his life.

A lone individual, adorned with a crown, felled them with ease. He ignited a slaughter, eliminating every Celestial in his path. However, through his rampage, his hands grew drenched in excessive bloodshed. In the end, the natural order utterly forsook him, and shadows engulfed him entirely.

While extracting the Celestial Symbols of his deceased companions from the corpses of their thieves and dispatching the final attackers, he forfeited his own existence—not at another's hand, but because he could no longer contain his own chaotic, ferocious strength.

In his final instant, as his essence dissolved, he uttered words once more.

'Pity... I couldn't wipe out every Celestial with me. Thus, no such level endures.'

He faded away, yet implanted a potent fixation—a yearning to obliterate the Celestial world entirely. Following his passing, the Layer of the Three Ancients reshaped itself, patiently expecting a successor to claim that dark fixation.

The sole survivor in the ancient domain was the two-headed colossus.

It had started as a simple Divine Creature with scant wits, but ages past, the hourglass symbol's bearer encountered it tormented by mighty beasts and, moved by compassion, chose to rescue it. Consequently, the colossus attained immense strength.

Nevertheless, while the colossus gained such tremendous might, the cost was eternal wakefulness—it could never rest again. The colossus always shadowed the trio of mighty entities in secret, but whenever they attempted approach, it displayed contempt and withdrew. Though inferior in power, it lingered nearby for a period, watching them from a distance.

Still, deprived of slumber, it wandered restlessly across realms, only reappearing after intervals of years.

The colossus exhibited no bond toward the three mighty Celestials. It stayed mute upon discovering two of the three had fallen. Even as the final one formed the Layer of Ancients, endured, and then unleashed a torrent of carnage, the colossus simply observed in stillness.

Merely when all else had vanished did it reveal a trace of sorrow, emitting a faint whine.

The colossus was responsible for collecting the three Celestial Symbols abandoned across the expansive domain and depositing them in diverse spots inside the Layer of the Ancients.

It likewise assembled the recollections of the lost ones and formed the ancient projections Kyle witnessed, allowing future observers to grasp the true events—how and why the earliest Celestials disappeared.

Afterward, it confined itself inside the Layer of Ancients, assuming the duty of sentinel.

Kyle observed the celestial projections fade into glittering motes and vanish.

He comprehended the reason the colossus refrained from meddling—it stemmed from its absence of rest, and possibly its lack of grasp on particular human sentiments.

Only upon the demise of the three it valued did it experience a spark of mourning.

Had it genuinely felt nothing for the mighty Celestials it once observed, it would not have imprisoned itself with their legacies, aware it meant solitary confinement in the ancient domain for an indefinite era until some intruder discovered it. Rather, it would have devoured those legacies to elevate itself, instead of safeguarding them across endless years like a loyal protector.

Thus, he regretted mocking the colossus when it failed to reach him, oblivious that it had chosen self-imprisonment.

Should it have desired, it could have shattered those bounds and seized him. Yet even amid Kyle's derision, it upheld the confinement it imposed on itself.

Kyle lifted a hand, as if attempting to seize the fading embers strewn across the remote heavens. His mouth formed a straight line, and his subsequent words caused the surrounding natural energy to tremble.

"Honestly..."

He halted, drawing out his statement.

"Why did the final one of the three Celestials endure for so long? It's foolish. If something stripped away the precious few you cherished, you ought to charge ahead and annihilate it all."

His declaration resounded gently, and the natural world sighed in relief that this figure had evaded the shadows. Had he succumbed, Kyle would have wrought devastation exceeding that of the duo now clashing viciously to destroy one another.

Kyle murmured thoughtfully, his eyes wandering afar. The truth that the last of the original three Celestials hadn't demolished his own being, contrary to the tales spread across the Celestial Realm, weighed on his thoughts. Yet he couldn't ponder it deeply.

His luminous gaze fixed on two swift bolts of radiance—one pitch-black laced with crimson, the other golden blended with shadow and a potent emerald hue—racing through the remote expanse in a lethal, wrathful confrontation.

Sharpening his radiant eyes, he redirected his attention elsewhere, where his perception pinpointed Cassian and Ares.

"I suppose I'll allow them to battle initially. Regarding the victor... it's rather clear. He appears to be playing with the seven-headed serpent."